Oracle Begins
by Topaz Ingenious
Summary: A month after the Carnival Nightmare, Barbara has become a smarter, more stronger version of herself. As the conclusion nears, more enemies begin to rise and Child's Play launches his plan on Gotham. How will she deal with the conflicts? And what holds the Joker captive when Arkham can't? Link to last chapter: /s/10879092/1/Batgirl-Begins
1. We're Watching You

Oracle Begins

Chapter One

One Month Later…

I've performed better than I had ever hoped to as Batgirl, and not only that, I've enjoyed the luxury of life and went back into the world fearless. I re-applied at Gotham University for the Winter Courses and was accepted back; in addition, working again at Gotham Press. I made sure to tell them both that I had been going through some "Family Problems," and they saw that was a chance to bring me back in, if I hadn't been going in so long. And I'm doing great at Gotham U; as a matter of fact, one of the best in all five of my classes. It must be that my confidence has grown since that night I rededicated my life to the Life of Batgirl. That was the best move I've ever made.

And at Gotham Press, I'm catching up on all the projects that I've missed and I'm making some ground. I should've done what I did sooner if everything's this easy. Not only am I confident and fearless; I'm more active and making new friends that I can relate with. Smart. Friendly. I know anything good like this can't last forever, but I'll make an effort to enjoy it while it lasts. As for Robin, he's attending classes at Gotham U, too. And it's official. We're boyfriend/girlfriend. Alfred is still Batman's pretend-father, and Batman is still working the Carnival Nightmare Case, to find out who the accomplice is. He has a hunch that it all started at Ace Chemicals, and that the one he's looking for is there. And when he's done with that, he's going to talk to the Joker. This time, he's going to use a more refined method to find out his answers; aside from a more aggressive response. More of a caring approach. Lately, he's been able to deal with his anger more, and a little nicer which makes me feel better about him and myself. Because even with someone like him who's been doing what he does for so long, he's vulnerable like the rest of us. It makes me glad knowing he's actually human.

I've had to bundle up a lot more this winter since it's the Coldest Winter Gotham's Seen. Thermostats turned on temperatures that would've burned everyone up at first; and at that temperature, little progress is made. Even in the midst of this new Ice Age, I'm still enjoying life. So long as it means I get to cuddle next to Robin for warmth. Lately, haven't been afraid to go on dates either at fancy restaurants. He usually shows in his mundane attire with me wearing these beautiful dresses with money from Gotham Press. Eight-fifty every six hours a day every week adds up. But to my defense, I wear the same dress. We've been hitting it off great, too. Oh, and at Gotham U, I joined a Scholars Club. That seems to be everything that's happened over the course of a month.

One night, as I'm getting ready for bed, I hear the police band go off, announcing a museum heist, and to bring some thermals. Must be the origination of the new Ice Age. I make my way to the Cave and find Robin is finally going with Batman. And so am I. Dick and I have been less strict about missions lately since we have other things to do. But today, I feel like going. When I make it to the cave, Batman informs us. "Good, you're all here. I've triangulated the source of the origination of the frequency over the police band and found that the officer is at the Gotham Antique Exhibit, apparently it's frozen over and the temperatures are too critical to go in with our normal suits."

He's standing near a control panel, typing in some code and up comes three display cases with armored masks instead of cowls. The suits seem a little bulkier, along with some gridlines around the suit in some spots. The color schemes of the suits are the same. Batman answers the questions on our minds, which Dick and I probably know the answer to anyway. "I designed these suits when the cold front started to exasperate. The suits will automatically read the temperature and adjust itself to a level where it can counter the cold."

I'm guessing the gridlines will light up according to the main colors of your costume, and will light up whenever the suit's trying to fight the Cryogenic environment around you. We suit up and I notice it's just as lightweight as my other suit. Good. And I wouldn't expect anything less. And when I get out of the changing area, I found Batman made bigger cycles to go along with my bulkier suit. I can always rely on him to think ahead. We drive out of the Batcave and make our way to the Museum. When we arrive, I see Batman wasn't joking. It's literality frozen over. The police are shivering even when they're not close to it. One turns around when he hears us coming along, and he waves his hands, shaking. His face is about to turn blue. He shouts at us with chattering teeth. "He-hey! Yo-you got-gotta st-stop th-this befo-before i-i—"

Batman finishes his sentence. "Trust me. We will."

We park our cycles next to the police cars and run towards the Exhibit. The door is frozen shut so Batman puts his hands on the surface, his gridlines lighting up grey and as the door heats up, he punches it open. We progress further into the Exhibit and find everything is practically frozen over, like it's transformed into a fortress. Fortress is the best word for it. I look at Robin and Batman; their gridlines are lighting up. Must be what Batman said about adapting to cold temperatures. Robin's are green. I look at mine and they're golden. Dick comments. "This was a great idea, Bats."

He still doesn't say thank you; fortunately, he's been nicer like I've said. He tells us to split up and stay sharp after we reach a three-way pathway. Batman goes forward, Robin goes right, and I go left. Assume that we need to call in whatever we find. It'd be logical. After looking for about ten minutes, all I find is ice and more frozen artifacts. I find a broken display case and call it in. "Found a broken display case. Not sure what was in it before."

Robin confirms he hasn't found much either, and Batman confirms that he's found some goons with ice guns. I make my way to him and hear people talking, and some laughing. They comment about how thankful they are that they have something to protect them from the cold. I hear something fire and it's probably the ice gun. I hear three voices. I can't peek over a corner because they're so close, judging by their voices. Batman tells us. "Engage if necessary. They don't seem to be that big of a threat, but be warned."

I make a mental note. I wait until they've passed my corner and I elbow one in the face, dropkicking another. I roll out of the way of the ice gun that freezes the ground even more. I leap to my feet and dodge the ice gun again, lifting it upwards after grabbing hold of it and bringing my elbow down on it, busting a part of it, but not the entire gun. I punch the thug in the face twice and kick him to the ground. When that thug goes down, an ice gun is already pointed at me, firing my way. I couldn't duck in time but this suit is defrosting the ice buildup on my suit as we speak. That's one less problem to worry about. They keep firing their guns and I find out they all have ice guns. I side-step my way out of the ice and get my Batarangs out at the same time, throwing one at each of the guns firing at me, exploding on impact in a burst of fire. Down for the count. And with a new feature added into the Batarangs: They fly back to me so it's not a wasted Batarang. I get a closer look at them and find that in the center of them, there's fire inside the core of them. Thermal Batarangs. I examine the gun I smashed with my elbow and call it in. "I'm taking one of the ice guns for you to examine, Batman."

"Good." He answers back.

It's like a quiver, and I put it around my back just like one under my cape. Robin, I suppose, is still searching and confirms. "I found a giant, futuristic icebox."

"Must be the man in charge. Wait for backup." Informs Batman, and Robin acknowledges. And in the course of a month, Robin's been more like me, too. Less fearful, more confident, more willing to go into action. It's like tragedy is changing us into people we never thought would be stronger versions of ourselves. I make my way to Robin and I see he wasn't joking. It's a man in a seven foot, armored cryogenic suit. He's accompanied by goons with ice guns strapped around their backs, one of them telling their boss. "Boss, we've been compromised."

The man turns to them, replying in a metallic and cold voice. "Then get out of here. We can't lose those diamonds."

The man sees us in his peripheral and I see his skin is bluer than the officer's I saw earlier. Why? And how? He shouts to us. "You've forced my hand!"

He points his cannon at us, shooting ice as we leap out of the way of it. The ice, it seems, from the cannon, is obviously deadlier. I see it impact on a wall and the spread of ice is wider and it's going to be colder. And it'll take longer to melt that if that hits my suit. He keeps firing on his glacier from above. "Why do you have to stop me now?!"

Robin strikes back, while dodging the ice. "Because you froze this entire place!"

"Because it's meaningless." He spits back. Robin comes to a standstill as he crouches behind a pillar, shouting back. "The diamonds sure weren't."

I can hear him grunt from here, and he comes walking down his glacier, firing at me and at Batman, that is to say if he could get us. Batman disappears from my line of sight and I look around for him, not seeing him anywhere. Without warning, I almost dodge the ice blast my way and it freezes my cape just by the moisture. Before he has the chance to fire another blast, Batman appears on top of him, planting a device on his back. "Get out of the way!"

He yells at me. I do and he backflips off the icebox's back, him propelling into a wall. It was one of Batman's rocket patches. It must've set at a high power to propel someone of that size and weight. He removes himself from the wall and gets back on his feet, and when he does, Batman lands a kick to his helmet that cracks his fishbowl. The icebox kicks him in the stomach, Batman taking a few steps back and while Batman was temporality disoriented, he fires the ice blast at him. Robin leaps in the way of the blast, being shot into the giant glacier the icebox was standing on earlier. I can see ice building up on his chest. The icebox swings his cannon my way and knocks me out of his way, making more than just a dent in my armor. I drop a smoke pellet and hide behind an iceberg. I hear the walking icebox shout. "Enough! I have more important engagements elsewhere."

His thundering footsteps are accompanied by the shattering of ice on the ground, and the mechanical whirs of his armor. Robin recovers from the ice seconds later. Batman advises all of us to let him go. When his back is turned, Batman throws a tracker on his back. It wasn't as bad as I thought, good. He doesn't put up much of a fight, which is better. Batman looks around for something, maybe what could've caused the new cold front, but with how we've searched around, we don't find anything. Why freeze a place to the core when you're only interested in diamonds? Diamonds for his cannon? Plus the ice guns? Good idea as any.

We make our way to our cycles and go back to the Cave. I congratulate Robin and Batman on a good job, Robin thanks me. When we reach the Cave, Batman switches suits to head to Ace Chemicals. When I switch back to my regular clothes, and so does Dick, I sneak in a kiss on his lips, staying there for a while until I let go, joking. "Stay frosty."

Dick replies. "Can't. You're melting me."

I laugh, and so does he. I remember the ice gun on my back and I set it on the workable in the workshop of the Batcave where the magic happens for all the new and old gadgets. The next day, at Gotham Press, I'm editing a paper and Allan stops by for a little chat. Our new boss is one of the more honorable employees we had before Brenden was killed. Allan hasn't made that much of an effort to ask me out since he's probably learned from my objections. Lately, he just checks on me to see how I'm doing, which I can agree with. Even after what I've done. This time he apologizes for being so rushed with trying to be my boyfriend. I reply back in a nicer voice than usual, but there's still an essence of me being closed off. "It's all right."

"It is?" He asks nervously. "Yeah. Don't sweat it." I reassure.

Allan puts a folder on my desk, after looking around to see if anyone was looking. I look inside, slowly, and Allan whispers to me. "I know you're Batgirl."

In the folder, I see images of me in my Armored Kevlar Batsuit. I look at Allan who's concerned for me. "I solved the puzzle when I heard about you on the news about stopping the incident at the hardware store."

I knew this would happen eventually, and I've stopped wearing my wig since I ended up using the new suit. I whisper back in a strict voice. "Listen, if you tell anyone about this,"

"I haven't." He finishes, gulping when he says this. I remind him. "No one can know about this."

I look in his eyes, looking for more answers. Then I solve the equation myself. And with swift action and vengeance, I leap up and kick away my office rolling chair, putting Allan in a headlock so tight you'd think I'd kill him. But I won't. I fiercely whisper to him. "What the hell are you doing working with Child's Play? And why the hell are you using me!?"

His next words come out improperly because his oxygen is almost cut off. "What!?"

"You know what I mean. Because by some possibility that he has spies everywhere, watching my every move, I should've known better than to trust you. And why tell me now?"

"Because-"

I hear something like a bomb going off. I think it's inside him. I let go of him and, when I do, he spazzes out like he's been electrocuted. There's nothing I can do, so I just watch him writhe and spaz out on the ground; drooling and when the scenario runs its course, I find that Allan was electrocuted enough to singe his skin and melt off some of his clothes. I rush to the bathroom and seal myself away in a stall. I call Bruce, half hyperventilating and half controlling my emotions. "Bruce, Child's Play has spies everywhere and I just watched one of them die."

"Which one?"

"Allan. A friend,"

I think to myself that friend isn't good enough anymore. "Someone that I knew at Gotham Press. That's how Child's Play knows my identity. I'm always been watched. He's going to reveal my identity sooner or later. We have to stop him."

Bruce's voice is calm as usual. "He won't reveal your identity to the public. He has to have a bigger plan in motion if he hasn't revealed it yet. But the next time he broadcasts live, we'll stop him."

I quickly catch my breath and ask Bruce. "So, what's the progress with the accomplice?"

"More like accomplices."

"What?" I answer back confused. Bruce answers back. "I went to Ace Chemicals and found someone calling themselves, Harley Quinn. Named after Joker's therapist Harleen Quinnzel at Arkham Asylum. Joker brainwashed her with his insanity and, in the midst of her inoperable sanity and blinding love for the Joker, she's transformed into another psychopath like the love of her life. Though, she's not as smart."

I feel both scared for Harley and comforted. Comforted because she's not as intelligent, which means she won't be thinking about any complicated and heartless ploys. Scared because she's still insane. "How dumb?" I ask jokingly, smiling. "Dumb enough to tell me everything I needed to know."

I end up covering up my mouth with my jacket, laughing my head off in it. Laughing at the major difference between the two. I think Bruce hears it, too. "She led me to a man named T.O. Morrow in his own headquarters. He wasn't expecting my arrival so I apprehended him easily. That said, he wasn't expecting me to bypass his security either. I've taken him to the Asylum after showing every piece of evidence I've gathered on this case to the authorities."

I smile, recovering from my giggle fit and asking. "So, case closed?"

"Yes. I've already started on the Sniper Victims."

"Good." I remark. One thing is for sure, he never gives up. Which is good. Someone with nervous steps comes in the bathroom and I slide down the lid, sitting on it and keeping my feet up, keeping quiet so no one notices I'm here. They'll know something's up when this stall is locked. They go in the stall beside me and I slowly hang up my call. I listen in on the conversation beside me. Another spy?

"Boss, we just lost a spy."

I hear a voice over the phone, it's him again. But his voice is stricter. "Which one?"

"Allan."

He chuckles. "Always the weak one. He deserved it."

"I agree."

I grit my teeth and keep my anger in. The spy continues. "Do we resume protocol?"

"Yes. Just one thing you need to do."

"What?"

"Batgirl is in the bathroom with you."

_Damn it_, I think. When the other stall opens and they start kicking open the other stalls, I unlock mine and, when I see the footsteps over my stall, I kick open my stall and knock her back. The spy crosses me in the face twice. I grab her arm, sidestepping behind her and jerking her arm back, kicking the back of her knees as she falls down, face-planting one of the stands for the stalls. I kick the elbow of the arm I still have hold of, and kick her back, flattening her onto the ground. I can hear her groaning, but she isn't screaming. I kick her side, rolling her over. She looks at me with disgust, so do I. I squat down to her, grabbing her shirt and demand. "Why are you working for Child's Play?"

She spits in my face and I know this will never go anywhere good, so I punch her in the face, knocking her out. I have to hide her somewhere. I don't have many options right now, so I stuff her in the trash can. I exit the bathroom, clock out for the day, and head home. I know that Child's Play had to be monitoring me somehow, and I have to find out how and why. I look around for any spies mounted on rooftops, none of them. Broad daylight, too. Two hours until sunset. I'm constantly being watched like s lab rat in a world-changing experiment. Or I'm the prey and they're the Eagles.

If there's a point where the good ends, this might be the point when. But this time, I'm stronger. More aware. More capable of defending myself. And smarter. Things will only get worse from here, and I'm ready for whatever comes. I decide to make my way back to the Cave on foot, since I don't have any means of transportation nearby. And since I can't allow anyone to drive me into the Batcave. So I calla Taxi to take me to my house, giving them directions. Upon entering the Cave, I find Bruce is doing research on the Sniper Victims and I greet him from afar. He turns around his chair and he announces back. "I've got something for you."

He gets up from his chair and leads me beside the Display Cases where Bruce steps on a panel, and a part of the wall opens up, housing a smorgasbord of computers with a chair mounted to the ground like the one to the Batcomputer, but can still turn around freely in place. Some of the computers are active, some are fuzzy. I turn around and hug him tightly. But I don't kiss him. My lips are for Robin. Bruce informs me. "I figured you wanted something like this."

Off the top of my head, I think to myself a new name and pronounce it aloud. "Oracle?"

Bruce shakes his head in agreement and tells me. "It's a work in progress. It'll be operational shortly."

I acknowledge him and question. "Anything I can do?"

"No."

"All right."

He goes back into the Cavern and I go to the elevator up to Wayne Manor to do some homework. I could've done it at school; then again, there's nothing like living in Wayne Manor where it's Luxury Paradise. There's even a fountain in the Living Area. I go to one of the bedrooms and settle there. Alfred gave me a tour of the place a month ago. As I'm halfway into my homework, the power goes out for longer than it should. I greeted Dick on the way to the bedroom earlier and he casually came walking my way, asking for some sort of explanation. Unfortunately, I don't have one either. And all of a sudden, we hear a voice over the darkness. So close you'd think it's here. It's coming from the TV in the next room. Child's Play. He did this. Dick and I head to the room together and we find that there's a banner on the bottom of the screen like a headline: Gotham Blackout. "I interrupt your regularly scheduled propaganda and ill-advised actions with a message of my own,"

I think to myself, _How is Bruce going to track him now? _Unless Bruce knows how to restart the Batcomputer. He anticipated it. He doesn't want anyone tracking him; nevertheless, he'll tell you where he is when he feels like it. Figures. He continues. "As a child, I played with fire. As a child, I burned my face. As I grew up, I realized how pathetic child's play is; and yet, we still do it. Justice is blind, and so is crime. Crime is blind because it doesn't see the error of it's ways, because it's looking for a chance to die. Sooner or later, you will crumble as your struggle of making it out of this one on your own becomes amplified. You're also blind without your technology, and I estimate the deaths to come immediately. For some of you, technology is your life. Your foothold on life. But you put your faith in something that can easily be destroyed."

I check my phone and it's not working. An EMP. Dick looks at me through the darkness with only the moonlight and TV Screen. I look for any signs of distress; all I see is a face that's scared. Scared for us. For Gotham. Child's Play certainly did step up his game. But how'd he do this? "In a city where you're driven by technology and corruption, there's only one way to end this. The only way that makes a difference,"

He pauses for dramatic effect and the embers around him grow in numbers, making a flame behind him. His next words are spoken in a tone that brings chills down my spine. "Burning Gotham to the ground."

The screen fades to black. Dead silence falls over the mansion. Silence that makes the dead roll in their grave. I feel uneasy. Dick and I hold hands tightly. Alfred enters the bedroom, calling my name. By Ms. Gordon. He sees us in the next room and opens one of the curtains, a distant fire is seen in the distance. Only a small one, though. Dick and I would make our way to the Cave, but the elevator isn't working. I tell Alfred. "I need to get to the Batcave. Are there any other means of getting down there?"

He turns around from the window and pauses for a second, thinking, then he answers. "There is another way."

He leads me and Dick out of the room and to a hatch in the Living Area. He opens it up and hands us both a torch, him coming down with us. He tells us to strike the walls and the torch lights up. We descend the stairs and I ask Alfred. "When did you have time to make this?"

"It was Bruce who did it. He foresaw that the elevator would eventually become obsolete in the future and created this secondary mean of access."

_Always the smart one, Bruce. _I thank him in my head. With luck, our suits and some of our gadgets will still work. Dick breaks the silence to Alfred. "Any idea how he EMP'd Gotham, Alfred?"

"My guess is that he attacked the Government or got his hands on some technology that would do it for him."

"The Government can do that?" I reply, baffled. It'd make sense, though.

"Yes, Ms. Gordon. To our dismay, that may not have been what he did. Most likely, he did the latter."

Probably why he sole those computers…

We reach the bottom of the stairs and we encounter another hatch, opening it and we end up in the Infirmary. We make our way to the General Bay of the Batcave where the Batmobile would be. Inoperable. What would Bruce do in this situation if he had no means of transportation? Use something that's not technology, I guess. Bruce is inside the Batmobile with a torch mounted on the side of his car…hotwiring? Every now and then, the car would whir back online. After a while, the car is active. I guess he wasn't expecting this one. Bruce is in his Batsuit, too. How'd he access his Display Case if the power didn't work? I presume he smashed the case open and changed where we was. We make our way to the display cases and smash them open, Alfred stands near us with a torch, setting ours near a wall. He closes his eyes and tells us he won't look. When we're suited, we make our way to the Batmobile. Luckily, there's enough room for more than six people inside the car. Before we drive off, Bruce barks out an order to Alfred. "Alfred, stay here in the Cave."

"Will do, sir."

A thought occurs to me. How is Batman going to get out of the cave now? He answers my question when he rams through the wall that would open up for passage, and smashes through the other one. The Batmobile is unscathed. When we turn around the corner, we see the fire has grown exponentially. In the midst of this chaos, I think to myself. _Technology and Corruption isn't Child's Play. And without your daily necessities, corruption will grow like a wildfire. Crime is blind, and now, you'll die blind._ That's what I think he's thinking now, Child's Play. No doubt he's planning this. My other theory is that he's been training to be a better fighter. This time, I have Batman and Robin with me. And when I said I was prepared for anything, I hadn't realized the outcome of jinxing myself would come to this elevation of madness. Child's Play must've had plastic surgery for his burns, and now looks like an ordinary person. He did, in fact, say he could be anyone. However, one would have to pay attention to his combat skills and intellectual prowess. Unless he's really good at hiding it.

As we reach Gotham, the first thing we see is someone hung by a traffic light with their shoelaces. Either that was Child's Play's gang doing that, or someone else did it. Batman must be making his way to the GCPD, to the roof. But how? Then he tells us to unbuckle, get ready, and we come to a complete stop in the Batmobile, launching ourselves to the roof. I scream at the excitement, which is something good that's going to happen tonight. We find my dad is there, waiting. My dad catches his breath, explaining. "Thank God you're here."

"Don't thank him just yet." remarks Batman. Calm as ever. But how? "What'd you know?"

My dad answers back, nervously. "Well, you're not going to like it, but I'm one of the few GCPD Officers still alive."

I turn to Robin and hug him, he sniffs like he's crying. I think him seeing me in pain like this all the time hurts him too much. But I won't cry. Batman questions. "What can we do?"

I hear the sound of a gun getting ready, and I turn around, not knowing what to think of this situation when my dad says the words I wish he didn't in a time like this. "You're going to help me stop this."

He fires a bullet in the air to seal the deal, to signify the moment that one or all of us are going to end up dying tonight.


	2. Child's Play's Plan

Chapter Two

Despite the circumstances, I'm not crying. Instead, I'm making a note to stay strong enough to make it through the night, protect my dad, and make it out alive to be with Robin again. And where does Bruce fit in to this? Without him, we wouldn't have a strategist. Without him, we wouldn't have the suits to help us in a time like this. Without him, I wouldn't be standing here. He means more than I realize, even when I don't think that much about it. It occurs to me that my Batarangs are still operational, but not my Grapnel Gun or anything else. And our comms are broken. I tell Batman this, keeping myself together, surprisingly. "Our comms don't work. How are we supposed to know each other's status?"

"We'll rendezvous at Gotham Central in two hours or so. Robin and I are going to the Iceberg Lounge to interrogate the Penguin, see if he has any useful information. When you take down some of Child's Play's gang, take their comms so you can listen in on the activity on the other side."

My dad questions. "But wait, the technology's been EMP'd. How's that work out? And how'd you know they have ear comms?"

Batman answers back. "Most likely, the EMP only targeted technology in Gotham, and not his men. They were either away from the blast, or they're in some sort of database that protects their own technologies. They'll have comms, no doubt. In a scenario like this, they'd be stupid not to."

He takes a deep breath and thinks of something before sending us off. "You know the drill. You'll have to go on foot." He says looking at me and my dad. Robin and Batman jump off the building and down to the Batmobile. I look at my dad, keeping my cool. Telling myself not to be afraid. We go down the door on the roof to ground level. We find a member of Child's Play's gang waiting for us at the end of the stairs. The second we peek our heads out, he fires his gun. I tell my dad to stay down and let me take care of this, since my suit is bulletproof. But I still need to be careful. I leap towards him, he blazes his gun at me and I knock him down to the ground, punching him out for good measure. I grab his ear comm and when I do, another appears from a wall and fires at me. I toss a Batarang or two at his shooting arm. He drops his gun, screaming. From behind me, I hear a gunshot. I turn around and my dad is holding the man's handgun. The man I knocked down. I question him. "What about your gun?"

"This one's better." He jokes. "And this is war now. There's already causalities left and right. But after this, no. I'll never take a life."

He answers the question in my mind. Though, I wouldn't be firing a gun right now. Or trying to kill people. I shake my head in agreement and I grab the ear comm again. It has a bullet through it. I grab the other man's ear comm and take off my cowl, putting the ear comm in my ear and putting my cowl back on over it. "Let's get moving." I bark at my dad. We do, and I see the face of the man I threw the Batarang at. He seems like an average man. I shake my head and keep moving to Gotham Central. From here, on foot, it just may take two hours. Through the comms, I hear someone announcing that the Bats have arrived, and Child's Play's voice comes over the comms. "Excellent. Do your mission as instructed. When you're done, find a nice, warm spot to watch Gotham burn."

Everyone acknowledges in agreement over the comms. If Child's Play's technology isn't scrambled, then I bet his suit is going to be better this time around. Like it'll be powered by something. After running for awhile, my dad instructs that we should take a breather. I agree, which is more for his benefit right now. It wouldn't hurt for me to relax either. My dad rests behind a pillar of a building that's already been burnt from the inside. The bricks charred, some fallen out. I slide down a pillar, bringing my legs up to my chest and resting my hands on the ashy remains of the floor of the building. I reassure my dad, almost panting. "We'll get through this."

I know that there's not a lot of fire around, but some of it still lingers. Some embers making their way towards us every now and then. My dad coughs, panting. "I know we will."

He takes off his glasses and rubs his forehead, making an unrealistic wish, considering we, (1. May be out of range of any water, or (2. Some of it's being burned in grocery stores. But we do need to find some water. For my dad's sake. I point out the reasons why water may be obsolete right now, but he spits back. "It's all right. Thirty-five years old, and I'm not going down like this."

He just needed a chance to gather up his energy again, and he gets back on his feet. Nearby, we hear screams. I turn to the sound and I find a house is catching on fire. We see the gang members we've been fighting throwing fire into the building. At least they're not laughing at it. And of course, the Joker's going to have to take advantage of this situation and make it even worse for everyone. No sign of him yet. All we can hope for is that he never shows up. More people will die under him than Child's Play, that's to say his kill count hasn't already skyrocketed in the time this started to now. Give or take almost an hour. I tell my dad to be silent while we sneak closer to the gang members, and I'll signal him when it's time to strike. We go inside a building adjacent to us and we try to sneak past the windows without them seeing us. Fortunately, it's dark in here. The downside is that some of them are on watch. I whisper to my dad. "When I break open this window, you shoot. Then I'll break for the building to save anyone inside."

He agrees with me without saying anything, and I proceed to kicking open the window. My dad starts shooting the gang members as I throw my Batarangs at some of the thugs' gun arms, rushing in-between them and giving them some bruises to remember me by for the fun of it. I take off my cape and I wrap it around my mouth like the Carnival Nightmare. But this is a better cape. Fire-retardant and suitable for this conflict. Should watch out for my eyes, though. I take a quick look behind me and my dad finishes up a gang member with a jaw-cracking punch, shaking his hand. He's not used to hitting so hard, I guess.

I make my way towards the sounds and kicking down doors when necessary. The closer I get, I find it's three screams. A woman, a child, and a baby. A gasp escapes me. Child's Play. You bastard. I tell the kid to get on my back, put the baby in my arms, and situate my arms to grab the woman's hand, escorting her out of the building. Child's Play is playing this out as a sentence for Gotham's Crimes. I just know it. When we reach a door that I knocked down, we find there's a barrier blocking our way. The roof fell. I turn around and another falls down, blocking the other door. I search for anything useful and I look out the window on my floor. It's a long drop, but it's my only option. I kick it open and I jump out, hoping to land on top of a car parked on the curb. And I do. My feet throb afterwards. I drop down from the top of the car, and tell them to hide. To keep quiet, out of sight until all this boils down. That's to say they don't end up being found. It's all I can do. My dad escorts them to the building we snuck into. I unwrap my cape from my mouth and attach it back to my shoulders. My dad makes his way back to me, frightened. "How many people like them do you think died?"

I take a deep breath, trying to stay calm. To stay strong. But my voice comes out weak, like a scratch in my throat. Almost. "Too many." I clear my throat.

A voice comes over the comms. One of the gang members. "Batgirl just saved a family in a burning building on 42nd Avenue North."

Where the hell do they see me at? Child's Play's voice comes on. "Keep her on watch and keep me posted."

"Affirmative." replies the gang member.

One thing I want to do is toss one of the bodies into the burning building, but I can't. I made my vow. And I'm better than they are. We keep moving and come across a roadblock of police cars with police officers shot down on top of their cars. Fires everywhere. I see a giant building burning on the lower levels, no one's screaming for help. They must already be dead. I park our over the police cars and my dad steps over it. When he gets back on ground, he falls flat on his face. He's losing energy and he's beginning to get severely dehydrated. I look around for something to use and I see a gas station that's already been burnt down. I'm starting to feel the panting coming on, too. But it's not as definite as my dad's. It's hard to stay quiet when you have someone hyperventilating. I put my dad's arm around my neck, carrying him. By now, it's about an hour and fifteen minutes. My dad's resolve begins to slip away slowly, and he ends up coughing, his words not completely understandable. God forbid, if I watch my father die…

I see a fire hydrant and it's my option right now. I rest my dad against the hydrant and slide it open, water spewing out. I lift up my dad and he takes gulps of the water, laughing and smiling at the relief. He gets strong enough to stand on his own and I let him stand. When he tells me he's had enough, I slide the lid back on. "Let's keep moving." I demand.

A gang member hits me in the temple with the butt of his gun and my dad jabs him in the stomach, but the man back hands him to the ground. I begin to get angrier, mad at him for assaulting my father. I take a shot at him and kick him against a wall, punching his face bloody and stop myself to give him just enough life. I look at my bloodied glove and I look at my dad, who's just now getting up with his hand on his stomach. It must've really hurt. My dad sees my glove, halfway covered in blood. "This night is messing with your mind."

"Different, he wasn't innocent." I bark back. The scratch in my voice nonexistent. "But I can't kill him."

My dad asks me. "Why not?!"

"Because I made a vow." I bark back harder. I make my way again to Gotham Central with my dad following behind me. He's right, though. I'm smart enough to be aware of what my psyche is transforming into. And I'm also smart enough to know when to snap myself out of a fit of rage. But sooner or later, if what's already happened keeps up, and something bad makes its appearance, I just might snap. No. I still have the vow. I will keep my vow. To my dying breath.

We keep moving forward and we witness three police officers be shot four times for each one, gunned down before our eyes. I get in front of my dad, using my body as a shield. I leap a distance I didn't know I could until now and start beating up the thugs. One hits me in the mouth with a handgun, spewing out some blood and I counter with a jab to the cheek. Shot in the stomach and falls to his death. My dad throws away his handgun and grabs another handgun someone was using. He doesn't pick up the machine guns though. "This may be war, but I'm not using a machine gun. Too dangerous." He points out. It seems he got enough water from the hydrant to keep him going for a while. Good. I decide to pause and rest behind a building, to take a breather. To give myself a resting period in the midst of this mayhem. I try to breathe, but the fires are stronger the further we get to Gotham Central.

The smoke is stronger the more fires we encounter. I can't breathe as easily because I'm getting to the point where I'm emotionally weakened. But I can keep going. I'm about to be dehydrated; though, not as strongly dehydrated as my dad was. I can see hints of tiredness in my father. He still says he can keep going. A voice comes over the comms. "At least forty percent of Gotham is in flames now."

Child's Play responds. "Good. Keep going."

"Yes sir."

Another gang member chimes in. "Sir, do we deploy Squad Fifty-Fifth?"

"Give it a few minutes" replies Child's Play.

Squad Fifty-Fifth? Is that like some variation of a Tactical Ops Division? I keep waiting for the National Guard to show up, but they'd never stand a chance right now. Especially when there's already some talk of some people being deployed to make matters worse. I hold my father's hand tightly, he looks in my eyes. He must be looking for something inside them. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." I answer back.

I spend a few minutes of recovering my strength. Another building catches on fire when I turn my head to the left, two more to the right. Child's Play may be worse than the Joker at this point, but I'd rather not find out still. And just as when I say that, I hear his demented laughter. Not him. Not now. I close my eyes, thinking to myself. _Please, not now. Not when my father's here. Not when I'm so vulnerable._

But when he comes around the corner, he sees me and my dad holding hands still. He finishes the puzzle and squats down to our level, leaning behind an ashen taxi car. "Well, well, well. Looks like it's your typical father and daughter moment."

I spit back at Joker furiously. "What're you doing here, Joker?"

He sits down in front of us, talking. "This was what I was going to do, and some freak ended up orchestrating this whole thing without telling me!"

Shockingly, he's not laughing or smashing us with crowbars by now. But actually talking to us. "So, I'm going to have to stop this on my own since I haven't seen Batsy anywhere and you two obviously aren't being any help."

He smiles at that, though. He gets up and gets out his gun, shooting at the side of my dad's head, just missing his temple. He chuckles lightly, remarking. "So if you want to keep those sideburns of yours, I suggest you do your job, 'Commissioner James Gordon.'"

I let go of my dad's hand, wrap my hands around Joker's throat, throwing him to the ground and as he rolls over to see my cowl, I step on his throat hard enough to keep him from talking for awhile. Hopefully. "If you think you can get away with threatening my father, and utilizing this city's madness-driven scenario to your own insane ploys, you'll never get that satisfaction."

I bring my knee down on one of his knees, and shatter one of his shoulders. "Who's laughing now?"

I get back to the mission at hand and make my way back to Gotham Central. My dad continues to follow behind me. It's almost two hours now when we reach Gotham Central. And just as when we reach the center of our destination, I look up to see a giant clock mounted on the front of Gotham Central, just striking at the two hour mark. When I turn around to look for the Batmobile, Batman and Robin are already getting out of it and making their way to us. A voice comes over the comms before they can say anything. Child's Play's voice. "Deploy Squad Fifty-Fifth now."

Multiple voices join in. "Yes sir."

Batman talks to us. "Squad Fifty-Fifth is apparently intended to pick up any stragglers." Stating his theory. Then he gets to the point. "We interrogated the Penguin and he has no idea who Child's Play really is, or why he's doing this. But what we think is it's a sentence for Gotham. Though, Penguin did mention something about lending weapons to a powerful individual. And I think I know who."

"Who is it?" asks my dad.

Batman takes his time to answer, and answers with a grim tone. "Bane."

Robin asks Batman in a curious but scared tone. "Bane? Didn't he break your back?"

"He did." answers Batman. I can't imagine someone actually beating Batman in combat, but it happened. "I've worn a back brace ever since then. My suit wasn't enough to protect me when he utilized a substance called Venom."

Or, more likely, Bane cheated his way to beating Batman in combat. That's unfair, but it's enough to keep me away from him. I ask Batman. "When did he break your back?"

"Not long ago." He's done playing catch-up with him and Bane, and asks me and my dad on how we're doing. My dad answers back. "We managed to rescue a family from a burning building and witnessed multiple deaths along the way. There were so many that we couldn't save."

I comment. "And I ran into the Joker who tried to turn this scenario his way, but I stopped him."

Batman steps closer to me, interrogating me. "I told you to not engage him."

In the heat of the madness all around me, I shout back at him. "There's bigger things at stake than me engaging a psychopathic, homosexual, heartless clown that wants to kill every-"

I feel something inside me. It hurts. I put my hand over my chest where my heart should be. I feel like I'm going to faint. I can't breathe. I can't focus. I'm having a heart attack. I've dealt with too much. The second I realize I'm having a heart attack, I pass out right there. I wake up to Robin doing CPR on me, shouting at me to not die. I'm still at the place I was at when I passed out. Batman and my dad are somewhere else, I guess. Couldn't waste time. Robin sees my eyes open and I've never seen him so happy. He hugs me tightly, and I don't object. I decide to let go after a while and ask Robin where Batman went. Robin's expression changes from excited to hurt. I know he wants this moment to last forever, I wish it could too. Unfortunately, we have to stop this war before it escalates out of control. Robin answers with a scratch in his voice. "They're looking for Child's Play's headquarters."

"How long have they been gone?"

"Couple of minutes."

I look up at the clock and find it's twenty minutes past the last time I saw it. I try to get up and Robin steadies me. I tell him I'm fine. Robin reminds me. "You just had a heart attack!"

I give him a scowl. Doesn't matter when more people are dying. I hear the comms come on again. "Sir, this is Commander Liquith with Squad Fifty-Fifth. We've finished our search throughout Gotham and the sweep is complete."

Something occurs to me. I ask Robin. "Is Batman in the Batcave?"

Robin looks at me, flabbergasted. "How'd you know?"

"Just a hunch."

He takes his gaze off of me and looks around, technology is active again. But there's less of it thanks to whatever Child's Play was doing. Gotham Central used to be a place flooded with jumbo screens; now, there's only two or three screens still working. Batman's tracking the location of the chatter over the comms with my dad somewhere safe. Good. The farther away he is from harm, the better I feel. Something good that happens tonight. Robin informs me. "There hasn't been much chatter over the comms except for now. Expect Batman to return into action shortly."

I shake my head in agreement. He also points out that the EMP was only temporary until Squad Fifty-Fifth showed up, according to a guess. I look in his eyes and kiss him for five seconds like our first kiss. We don't look away this time, but we rest each other's foreheads against one another's. Robin tells me in a more serene voice. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

As we continue to rest our foreheads together, Robin compliments. "Y'know, you're starting to get smarter every day."

"it's in my blood, I guess."

As much as we want to kiss again, we hear Child's Play a little frustrated. Better than a kiss right now. "Commander Liquith, do you copy?"

No response. Robin and I both end up laughing because Child's Play is actually having some difficulties with his plan now. I put my hand on the other comm, the one in in my cowl. "Nice work, Batman."

Things are going to get worse before they get better, but I'll think of this moment as a victory. Seconds later, Batman informs us. "I know where we need to go next."

"Where?" asks Robin.

Batman continues. "Gotham Life Building."

We make our way to the building with our Grapnel Guns, launching us into the air and gliding the way with our Bat Mode. It's good to have our tech working again. We collide through the windows of the top floor, using them as a break. We progress further into the building and Batman tells us to turn on our detective mode. As we do, we see hostages in the next room. "Squad Fifty-Fifth was intended to survey Gotham from above to give information out to Child's Play on how the Incendiary Initiative performed. And the Initiative _was_ intended for sentencing the innocent and the corrupt of Gotham to death by fire."

_As a child, I used to play with fire_, I think of the words Child's Play said when Gotham went dark. We get into the next room and Batman goes in first, planting a Batarang on the side of a wall, sending off a low-pitched sound and Batman puts it back in his belt. Robin asks. "What kind of Batarang was that?"

"Security Sensor."

We all step inside and rescue the hostages. They're workers here. When we get one workers' mouth fold off, he shouts. "You need to get out of here! Now!"

When he says that, more gang members come in, shooting at the eight hostages. We're about to throw our Batarangs when Child's Play walks in the room. His presence is enough to advise the gang members to draw down their machine guns. Child's Play sounds furious, but he looks calm. "So Liquith told you everything."

Batman takes a step forward. "He did."

"Tell me, did he scream? Do you scream?"

He slowly makes our way to us, still talking to Batman. "And for the man who saved the day, to what do I owe this pleasure of finally meeting the Great Batman?"

"There won't be any celebratory words after this."

Child's Play cracks his knuckles by hitting them together. "Of course there won't. Because killing me isn't child's play."

"I don't kill." Spits Batman. Child's Play replies. "Shame for you then. Because I do."

When he says that, his men leave the room and the fight begins. Robin gets out his staff and starts attacking Child's Play, at which point the breaks the staff in half with a single punch, giving him Batons. Robin appears frozen, examining the Batons and gets kicked in the stomach into a wall, almost breaking through the bricks laid out. Batman jabs Child's Play in the cheek guard, but not making a dent in the helmet. Batman gets elbowed in the chest, punched in the chin and Batman grabs the attacker's fist, jerking the assailant forward and crossing his chest. I kick his back and I duck the backhand, but I get struck by the knee rise in the throat. He grabs me by the throat and remarks. "And you beat me so easily last time. So this time you need friends to take me down?"

He knees me in one of my ribs, pretty much breaking it, it feels like. I scream and he throws me into a wall, punching my face in. After the first hit, Batman puts his hands together and slams them into the back of Child's Play neck. The attacker head butts Batman repeatedly and hooks his sternum. Robin goes back into battle with his Batons. He strikes the assailant's armor once and he ducks, slamming one Baton against the attacker's waist. He uses the Batons wisely like a countermove whenever Child's Play sends an attack. But that can only last for so long.

Child's Play learns from his mistakes and punches Robin in the face, lifting his leg up to knee his cheek. Batman grunts as he transfers all his strength to one punch to try and shatter the man's helmet. He makes progress; nevertheless, it's not good enough. Batman's throat is grabbed too tightly and is slammed onto the ground, having to bear through the pain of a knee drop to the face. I can't let this happen. Child's Play sends a fist my way; fists up, block the attack. It hurts, but it would've more in the face. I maneuver between his attacks carefully, blocking when needed and avoiding the attacks I can't counter. Though, every now and then, I would get inflicted with major amounts of damage. I keep aiming for the helmet, to make more of a dent. I still have that brace on my other knee the last time I broke Child's Play's helmet, just in case I needed to do it again. To my dismay, he's not going to let me do that so easily. I have to fool him, somehow. When I do shatter it again, it'll just realign the bones back into place. I hadn't realized until now that it was disabled when I was running around with my dad.

I try to find an opening and I have to endure blows to the head and the ribs to do it. When I do, I thrust my leg upwards as hard and as fast as I can. I only cracked it. I scream as I shatter my kneecap again, and scream even more as the brace realigns the bone back together. He hardened his helmet. I should've known. Batman tries to get back up and Child's Play kicks him back down again. Only a few seconds more until my kneecap is working again. Robin returns to the fight and thrusts one of his fists into Child's Play's helmet. And then, as if by some unknown force, his helmet shatters before my eyes. I needed to shatter his helmet to find out his identity, to get a good strike in and I punch his face as hard as I can as many times as I can. I can finally see the face, but I'm focusing on hitting him first, to give him payback for what he's done. After the sixth hit, I punch him harder than I've ever hit anyone. The seventh hit represents justice. The seventh hit represents…that we're done dealing with his ploys. I knock him onto the ground and the gang members come storming into the room, thinking that they're going to shoot us. But they just look at their boss's body, lying on the floor. They drop their guns to their sides and look at us. After seeing Child's Play struggle to get back on his feet, he looks at his once loyal men. "Kill them!" spits the attacker.

The twenty men that were once employed to serve a man, drop their guns and one of them answers back. "We don't work for your anymore."

With that said, they walk out of the room. Joy flows through me unlike anything I've ever felt. Child's Play looks at us and his face is the old Mayor of Gotham: Lhestney Falkes. He was fired for insane methods of punishment involving juvenile acts where men, women and children were involved. Some say he went into a fit of rage one day, when he was fine the day before. From what I've heard from my father years ago. I was a kid at the time, like six, when I first witnessed the outrage the Mayor had gone into. It all makes sense. Lhestney laughs and ends up speaking in a calm tone. "You fool yourselves. This isn't over."

Batman struggles to get up because of the inflictions Lhestney caused with his more powered suit. We're all lucky to be alive, as is. Batman gets to Lhestney and grabs him by the shoulders, one hand poised to strike his face with an iron fist. Batman shouts at him. "Why'd you do this, Lhestney?"

Lhestney spits at him, laughing. Batman punches his face, asking again. "Who did this to you?"

Lhestney smiles before he answers. "You want the truth? I'll give you the truth."

He takes a deep breath before finishing. "I was a sane man until I had witnessed the peak of corruption in my day. Witnessing how authority was twisted to benefit this city."

I listen, but halfway care. If there's any chance of forgiving him for what he's done, there'll never be a moment I'll do it. He goes on to explain how he went into hiding after he was discharged as Mayor, how he went with his own free-will into Rehab and was later sent to prison for murdering all his therapists. He was busted out of prison by a friend he earned in Rehabilitation and ended up killing him afterwards, too. Lhestney's actions can only be described as signs of a man who has no control of what he does, and only seeks revenge on everyone that cared or didn't care about the condition of Gotham, or anyone else. He goes on to later find out how to deal with his anger, his mental instability, his inability to belong in society because of his actions. He went into Blackgate and he found someone that could relate to him. Eventually, he felt his mind meshing back together, but it wasn't enough. One night, in Blackgate, a prisoner had set the electrical systems to short out and have a blackout for days on. During that period, Lhestney stayed in his jail cell, waiting for the power to come back on. It was with the help of Rebecca Artrode, the woman who helped Lhestney's mental and emotional problems, that Lhestney began to slowly turn into a more dangerous man.

The kind of man that watches and waits for the right opportunity to strike, the kind of man who observes you carefully. A madman with the mind to wait for the time to kill you.

When the lights came back on, the prisoners were forced into their cells after using flashlights to scour the prison. Guards later found out that the Blackout was a part of a plan to try and derail the prison's security. When they looked in Lhestney's cell, they found he was still there.

Rebecca helped Lhestney become a more refined madman. And one to strike terror in people. When everyone least expected it, Lhestney broke out of Blackgate, and it took a month before people realized he had left. He formed an organization, a mobster-esque organization, that later escalated into something bigger. Something that Lhestney had been planning for years. The Incendiaries. That's what the gang members' group was called. He also goes back to his childhood to explain the name when someone asked about it one day. He explains how he played with fire, how he was using a switch to set a campfire by himself one night. He ended up burning half of his body instead of just his face.

Somewhere inside me, I think there would've been compassion instead of hate. But right now, I still don't forgive him for what's he already done. Batman asks Lhestney. "Did you have any parents?"

"I never knew them. And I was adopted into a family that didn't give a damn."

Batman's body has stopped tensing up. He tells Lhestney. "Now you can do the same in Arkham Asylum."

Just as Lhestney activates something on the palm by bending his fingers, we all hear a beeping sound. "I don't think so. You cross my path, and I'll make sure you'll remember me. One way, or another."

He laughs lightly before he finishes. "Play with fire, and you'll get burned."

Batman hoists him on his shoulder as we all run out of the room with him; and as expected, we still get the impact of the explosion. I guess Batman's Security Sensor Batarang couldn't detect bombs. Lhestney is on his hands and knees, breathing heavily, questioning. "How…could you…save me?"

Only Batman would think of saving him right now, but I'd have had to save him, too. Batman answers back. "Because it's what I do."

Lhestney thanks him, and seconds later, he makes an attempt to punch his face but Batman grabs the fist and kicks his chest as hard as he can, knocking him back about seven feet. Amazing. And ridiculous. Batman saves him, and he's still trying to kill him. But I like that Batman paid him back ten fold. One thing's for sure, his madness is over. For now. And he'll wake up in Arkham. Robin, Batman, and I get back on our feet. I hug them both, laughing at our victory. If it weren't for my bruises in my rib cage, I'd enjoy this moment more. Robin hugs me back, and to my surprise, so does Batman. This simple act alleviates the pain I've felt all night. A tear of joy streams down my eye. I remove myself from the group hug and thank them for helping me. Batman's like a gentle giant when it comes down to it. I take off my cowl and toss away the ear comm I captured into the trash bin, putting my cowl back on. Alfred's voice comes over the comms in our cowls. "I hate to ruin your victory, but there's a more pressing engagement elsewhere."

Batman answers back. "What is it?"

He takes a second before he finishes his sentence, and the threat Dick and I know we can't help him with. The one who broke the Bat. "Bane."


	3. I'm Not Saying Goodbye

Chapter Three

We rendezvous back on ground as Batman opens the trunk of the Batmobile, revealing what appears to be a black Batsymbol. He puts it on his chest and he transforms into an armored-clad suit to fight Bane. It's a little bulkier than his original suit. Still has the pointy Bat ears and his cape isn't replaced either. The chest and legs are still grey, his boots and gloves are black, and his utility belt is yellow like usual. And this time, his cowl is more heavily armored. His eyes light up a lighter shade of white. Batman contacts Alfred. "Alfred, I've equipped the BatStriker Armor. Can you find Bane anywhere in Gotham?"

It's odd to me that it's starting to sunrise right now, and Batman's still here. Even if it's really cloudy out. The Cold Front is still here, I can feel it. Probably the work of that icebox. It's like with every second that passes, the colder the atmosphere gets. Alfred's voice comes over the comms. "Tracking now, sir."

Batman closes the trunk and I ask Batman. "What if that armor isn't enough to stop Bane?"

"Trust me. It will. I engineered the suit accordingly."

Robin questions. "Accordingly, how?"

Batman answers. "By estimating the effectiveness and durability Bane possessed when he juiced up on his Venom."

Batman seems unfazed by the fact that if this suit fails, Bane probably won't let Batman live this time. I ask Batman. "What'd you want us to do?"

"Head back to the Cave."

Alfred informs Batman on Bane's location. "Oh dear. Master Bruce, Bane is at Wayne Enterprises."

This hits me like a bullet through the chest. Bane knows about Batman's identity? Bafflingly, I ask Batman, frowning. "How does Bane know who you are?"

"Because he's smarter than he looks. Even on Venom."

Strong. Smart. Brutal. This is a deadly combination. Batman is walking off and I shout back. "Let us help you!"

"There's nothing else you can do for now. Head back to the Cave."

I refuse to accept this on the off chance that he'll die today. I shout at him to think this through, and he strikes back. "Don't disobey a direct order. You're not safe around Bane. Get back to the Cave. Now."

This argument is pointless, and I have to suck it up. I try something else then. "Where's my dad?"

"Home."

His cape splits in two, but I guess the suit did change his cape because it's longer when he activates Bat Mode to fly to Wayne Enterprises. The cape switches to that of metallic Bat Wings and he jet boots away from the scene. At least, my dad is safe. And has access to food and water. Whereas I'm: Dehydrated to a degree; hungry; dealing with a lot of pain and anger right now as a result of last night, and right now; worried about Batman; and then I have to deal with one of the worst thing I didn't think would happen. Robin telling me that he can't stay in Gotham for long. I turn to him, a tear of pain streaming down my face as I shift towards him. My legs fall from underneath me as I try to hug him, but I fall flat on my face. _Stupid klutz. _Robin sits beside me, using his body as a means of having something to lean back against. I start crying now, looking up at him, complaining. "Why?"

He looks at my watery eyes, and he answers. "Because I can't bare seeing you in pain anymore."

The worst has come. I close my eyes and wait for it to end already. To not have to endure this conflict any further. But life doesn't work that way. So I continue to have my eyes closed, so that when I open them, this moment will be over. I let the tears fall, but Robin keeps wiping them away. This makes me cry even more. "I don't want to leave, but it's time that I go out on my own."

That part I can understand. I almost forgot that he was Batman's pretend-son after everything I've been through, after he busted Child's Play's helmet with his hand. Which, I'm pretty sure, he's going to need a brace for that. Explains why he's using his other hand. "I want you to know that I love you."

I whisper back, eyes still closed, in a weak voice. "I love you, too."

We end up kissing. I don't count how long, I just revel in the moment. I wait for the tingles to come, but it takes a while for them to come. Guess I've been so drained that it's taking longer for the tingles. After awhile, he removes himself from me. The tingles never came. This hurts me even more. I lie there; so vulnerable, so frail. The pain becomes absolutely unbearable and I groan at the pain. Robin's watching my shatter, which is what neither of us want. I whisper back in a weaker voice. "Kiss me again."

He does kiss me again and I feel a slight tingle run through my body, and that's the only one. When Robin moves away, I slide up closer to his lips so I can keep kissing him. I have to feel the sensation I first felt when I first kissed him. It couldn't have been a lie. It can't be a lie. I refuse to believe it. Three more tingles. That's all that come. My mind completely snaps and the tears come even faster, even more unforgiving. My lips cold and dry, my teeth chattering in the frost on the environment. I can't pull myself away from the kiss because my hands are now planted on Robin's cheeks like a magnet to metal. I'm not letting him leave me. Through the cold and the pain, I keep kissing him. Keep wishing for him to stay. Keep wishing for the tingles to envelop my body like they did last time. I can't say goodbye. I'm not saying it. I'm not saying it. Inside I'm screaming, inside I feel more pain than any beating could inflict.

I know Robin doesn't have the strength to pull away from the longest kiss we've ever had, and I wouldn't either. But like all good things that come in life, they have to come to an end. I open my eyes and the next thing I know, he's gone. I rest my head on the snow, on what was once a sidewalk. I could just lie here, just hope to freeze here. I look around for him, and he's nowhere to be found. I see the Batmobile is still here. I don't care. Alfred contacts me over the comms. "Ms. Gordon?"

I don't answer because I don't have to answer. I don't want to answer. But sooner or later, Alfred's going to get suspicious. I don't care. I roll on my back, watching the snow fall on the ground. The snowflakes find my mouth, and they send Goosebumps through my body. "Ms. Gordon?"

I have a flashback of what happened when I rededicated my life to being a hero. "Ms. Gordon! Are you there?"

I let the snowflakes engulf my body, and I let the snowflakes touch my soft, frost-bitten, dry lips. I let them kiss me like Robin did. The tears keep falling, and the chills keep growing. My body is so weak from not having anything to eat, to drink. Not having a solution to this. I let the snowflakes touch my lips, ever so gently. "Ms. Gordon!? Do you copy?"

As the Goosebumps grow at a supernatural rate, as I continue to be kissed by the snowflakes, I speak my first word since Robin left. I haven't been keeping track of the time. Didn't bother to. "Bat."

Alfred's voice comes over the comms again, confused. "Bat? Ms. Gordon? What's going on? You've been out there for hours!"

It takes time for everything to sink in with the current state my mind is in now. The cold breeze. The tombstones. The Wayne Family. Hero. Vow. "Bat." I keep repeating. Who knows what time it is when I say something other than Bat. I end up saying. "Bat-gi-gir-girl."

I think to myself, _Finish it._ Alfred keeps checking on me. Either my mind is so shattered I'm having trouble speaking, or the cold has really taken me over. And I finally finish it. "Batgirl."

I take a deep breath, pronouncing the next words carefully. "I Am…Batgirl."

Alfred keeps asking me what's wrong, and I answer back. Stronger. I have to be stronger. "My name…is Barbara Gordon, Batgirl."

I sit up and rise from the mound of ice that's formed over me. I slowly begin to regain my consciousness and my awareness of my environment. I repeat my last words more fluently. "My name is Barbara Gordon, Batgirl."

I speak in a voice that I hadn't known before. Stronger than anything I've felt. Is this how Batman does it? Is this how he deals with his anger? His pain? I slowly stand up and tell Alfred. "And I'm not giving up."

I stand straight, shoulders cocked, head looking forward and not looking at the past where I was about to freeze to death. Alfred talks to me while I wipe the ice off the windshield of the Batmobile. "Ms. Gordon. What were you talking about?"

"I'll tell you when I get to the Cave."

When I get inside the Batmobile, I see the keys are still inside. He was expecting me to leave regardless of objections. As I crank up the Batmobile, I drive off all the snow that's gathered on the car. Luckily, this was able to drive through a mound of snow that had formed in front of the tires. I make my way to the Cave and as I look around, I see the Cold Front has grown into something else entirely. Gotham has become a Winter Wonderland, literality. Tress laden with snow. Streets filled with snow. Everywhere. Snow. When I get to the Cave, a seriously-worried Alfred greets me. "What happened to you out there? You were out there for hours!"

I tell him what happened and he responds with a hug, patting my back, but he doesn't cry or feel sorry for me. Instead, he seems delighted. "Batman would be proud that you finished your training."

These words catch me by surprise. I ask Alfred. "What?"

"Being in the Batfamily isn't just a privilege, it's an never-ending cycle of training to become the person strong enough to believe in yourself, to be able to take care of yourself, no matter what the circumstances. If there's one thing you should take away from this, it's that there's always a choice. Always a solution to any problem that you may encounter."

He grabs my shoulders, smiling. "And I'm so proud to see you stronger than before."

I smile, too. I hug Alfred back, thanking him. I let go and I remember something I thought I would've forgotten: The Tracker Batman put on the Icebox. He's gotta be the cause of this Cold Front. I check on Batman's vitals on his suit, and he's still alive. As a matter of fact, he comes walking through the pathway the Batmobile would take to re-enter the Cave. When he comes closer to Alfred and I, his armor is severely dented in some places. And some of his armor is ripped off. He types something into his gauntlet that disassembles his armor and back into a Batsymbol to put into the trunk of his Batmobile. I tell Batman about what happened, about why Robin's left, and it's unclear about how he reacts. Perhaps he doesn't want to react in front of me. Or that he's dealing with a lot right now. I ask Batman about Bane. "Did you find out anything you needed to know?"

Batman takes off his cowl and he shouts back from afar, growing quieter as he nears me. "He wanted to utilize Gotham's destruction as a chance to bring about a Gotham that would destroy me when I came back from the dead. But Child's Play beat him to it."

I tell him, confused. "Back from the dead?"

"Bane wanted to kill me because I reminded him of the nightmares he used to have. So he wanted to break me. And by the off chance that I would come back, he anticipated my return because I don't go down so easily."

He switches back to his regular voice again. "He knew exactly what it took to defeat me in battle, but he still didn't take the necessary precautions."

Alfred chimes in. "Well, I'm happy to hear that you survived, Master Wayne."

Batman turns to me. "How are you taking Robin leaving?"

"Better than I thought." I reply back.

I get up from the chair and make my way to the Thermal suit. I do what I need to get ready and come out with Bruce Wayne not Batman. He's fast. Bruce looks at me, asking. "Where are you going?"

"I tracked down the icebox and I'm going to stop him."

Bruce grabs my arm, telling me. "Alone?"

I strike back in a strong enough voice that'll get his attention. "I can do this."

I jerk my arm away and Bruce shakes his head in agreement, wishing me good luck. I smile underneath my mask. _That's more like it._

I get on my Batcycle for my Thermal suit, and make my way out of the Cave. I sent the coordinates for the icebox's location to my cycle's GPS. I make my way out and I see there's still a hole in the wall that would've opened up to exit the Cave since Gotham went dark. As I get closer, the beacon representing the icebox's location pulses faster and faster. I look around and see little to no life here in Gotham. How is everyone going to recover from the Incendiary Initiative? And how long will reconstruction of the damaged buildings take? Years, maybe. I reach my destination and I find it's the old GPCD Building. The lights in the parking lot flickering incessantly. I park my cycle inside and I see a door sealed tightly, like it's frozen. I put my hand on the door, defrosting some of the ice that had gathered on the door, and I kick the door open. I see no one to greet me as I turn on my Detective Mode, looking for the icebox.

I find him and he's in the Forensics lab. I go through an opening and the first thing I see is another ice fortress. He's made this place his home. He's also frozen the fans. My suit starts lighting up. I look around for him, and I turn my head to see a woman sealed away in a block of ice. Why'd he do this? I scan the woman and I find her name is Nora Fries. The icebox's voice booms behind me. "My real name is Victor Fries."

I turn around and see he's not even attacking me. He doesn't even show any signs of resistance. "But I came to be a man shunned by society because I'm no longer a man. A walking icebox, if you will."

I turn back to the woman behind the block of ice, running my fingers through the sheet of ice as Victor explains what happened in his broken and half-hearted voice. "I never wanted violence, nor did I ever want anything to come to this. But my heart is colder than the Cold Front that engulfs this city. Yes, I did it, with the help of some diamonds that I needed to do what had to be done."

I turn back to Victor, spitting back. "You never wanted violence, and yet you subjected an entire city to an new Ice Age."

"But you don't know why."

He explains why he did this. He was a Cryogenic Scientist that enjoyed life with his wife, Nora Fries, who became seriously ill when she was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease. He froze her in his lab and Ferris Boyle attacked Victor, not caring about what happened to Nora. A blast erupted inside the lab, infecting Victor and forcing him to live out his life in a Cryogenic suit, or else he'd die. I see a new light on him now. Victor adds to his story. "…That is why I am freezing Gotham. And I would freeze the world for my dear Nora. Nothing else mattered but her. But now…"

He walks up to the block of ice housing his wife. "I could cry if my heart wasn't so cold."

I see he's not a villain, more of a man who just wants to save his dying wife. "I'll find a way to help her. I'll tell Batman about this, and he'll work on a cure."

Victor comments coldly. "And why would the Batman help me?"

"Because he knows what it's like to lose someone."

Victor's expression turns grim. "What does he know about compassion?"

"He's human like you and me."

With fury, Victor speaks to me in a quiet voice. "And why should I trust him?"

"If you don't, then you won't find a cure."

He takes time to consider this, and then he acknowledges. "Very well. Tell Batman that I will allow him to assist me in finding a cure."

I offer to shake his hand, and he shakes it back. Victor lets go of the shake and he asks me. "Tell me, why do you care about helping me?"

"No one deserves to have their loved ones left out to die."

Victor examines me closely, his expression familiar. "And something tells me that you've lost someone, too."

This doesn't affect me like I thought it would. "I did. I don't know if they'll ever come back or not. But I know one thing, even if I can't hold their hand from afar or when you can't hold them through a block of ice,"

I touch the part of the block of ice where one of her hands are, I look at Victor and finish. "You know they're thinking about you the same way."

Through one of the goggles, Victor sheds a tear. No doubt this gives him a new perspective. "Thank you."

He goes to shut off his ice machine and shouts to me from afar. "For now, Gotham is safe."

I never expected to have that shut off the machine, but it was a good move. I contact Batman on the way out and fill him in on the details about Victor and Nora Fries. He replies back in a compassionate voice. Like he's had a change of heart almost. "I accept the offer. And I've solved the Sniper Victims Case."

"Good. Tell me about it."

He goes on to tell me how all the people killed had a connection to the Wayne Family one way or another, and how the one called Deadshot does his job for money, and how his boss is whoever hires him for money. This time, it was the Falcones who hired him to take out targets linked to the Wayne Family for putting some of their boys in jail years ago. There were eleven targets listed, and Deadshot had mounted snipers at specific parts of the city where he was told by the Falcones who had people everywhere. That's how Deadshot knew where the victims would be. Deadshot is commonly known for making the Most Complicated Ploys when it comes to being an Expert Sharpshooter. He's not wrong.

Bruce also goes on to tell me that he's already sent the information to James Gordon and that they'll be hunting for him now. And then Bruce comes up with an idea. "Which is why I'm going to be hosting a Ball celebrating Gotham's Road to Recovery tonight."

A flaw appears in his plan, I point it out. "But wait, there's like no one left in Gotham."

"I did a consensus via Batcomputer to determine how many people are still alive, and there's still forty-five hundred and sixty-five people in Gotham. The Ball will take place on the top floor of the tallest building in Gotham."

That's more people than I thought. They must be in hiding. Bruce goes on to say. "And I'll need you on hand ready to take him down when he strikes."

"How will you know when he's arrived? GPS?"

"Yes. And just in case you're wondering, the media is still active."

He's really thought this through. I can always rely on him to be a strategist in times like these. I make my way to the Cave and switch out of my Thermal suit to change back into my regular clothes, taking some relaxation time in Wayne Manor in the bedroom I did my homework in. Before Gotham blacked out. I'm glad Child's Play's not going to be making any appearance anytime soon. In this moment to myself, I find myself at ease. Everything's coming together. Except Robin and I, who may come back someday along the way. But I've come to accept the circumstances. And then something hits me. After Deadshot, there'll still be one other villain we need to make sure we stop because he's still out there, to what I believe. The one they call the Clown Prince of Crime. The King of Psychopaths. The Joker.


	4. Oracle Begins

Chapter Four

"If this doesn't work out, then you know you're going to die." I remind Bruce. I'm mounted on a gargoyle of a nearby building across from the Ball. Bruce sure goes overload with his parties. He said there was forty-five hundred and sixty-five people left in Gotham, and my Detective Mode shows that there's like six hundred of them. Bruce contacts Alfred. "Any sign of Deadshot yet?"

"None yet, sir. I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks." Replies Bruce.

Over the comms, I hear a woman greet Bruce with a kiss on the cheek. Typical greeting. The comm is picking up a bevy of communication in the room, and it's more definite the closer the voice is. The woman greets herself as Selina Kyle. Sweet voice, Purring, almost. Bruce asks Selina. "So, what's a woman like you doing in Gotham City?"

"Girl's gotta make a home somewhere. Not like there's much of a home here right now, though. What the hell happened to it?"

"A little incident involving Gotham's Old Mayor initiating an attack on Gotham City, sentencing the corrupt and the innocent to Death By Fire."

There's a pause, and Selina answers back in a frightened tone but still keeping her purring voice. "Well, I can see why you offered to do this then."

I hear a whisper over the comms. It's her. Pray she doesn't see the ear comm. Unless she's whispering in the other ear. Her voice chilling but comforting. "Who protects you when you need it the most?"

She takes a deep breath, exhaling. Bruce answers strangely, whispering in her ear now. "I don't need saving. Unless, of course, you're working with Deadshot."

She giggles, responding. "Oh no, I have no idea who that is."

Her next whisper is quieter, as if it'd take a dead silent room to hear it. "But why don't you hang out with me sometime?"

Bruce talks back to her. They mustn't be whispering anymore. "What's the catch?"

Selina giggles. "Oh, Bruce, what'd you take me for?"

"The question is, what do _you_ take me for?"

This pause indicates Selina is most likely thinking, and then she goes on to say. "A Billionaire Philanthropist. What about me?"

"A woman looking for a good time."

She laughs silently. She responds back. "Bruce, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you think you're better than me."

Alfred's voice comes over the comms, announcing that Deadshot's shown up on the radar. Bruce remarks to Selina. "Then we should make a date."

"Maybe we should."

Alfred sends the coordinates to my suit and it shows up on my left gauntlet like a map. I reply back to Alfred. "I'm on it."

I fire my Grapnel Gun and my way to Deadshot, trying not to be seen. Even if this suit can protect me from bullets, I'm not sure what his bullets will do. I hear a kiss over the comms as Selina comments. "What'd you think? Cherry Vanilla."

Bruce takes time to do a taste test of all things right now, but he's making a great effort of not being afraid and stalling. I'll give him that. Bruce answers playfully. "it's all right."

Selina giggles lightly and kisses him again. "Well then, you're got yourself a date."

"Wayne Manor, tomorrow night?"

"It's a date. And when?"

Bruce makes a remark. "Anytime you want."

"Brilliant." answers back Selina who sneaks in another kiss, apparently walking away. Alfred's voice comes over the comms. "Nice to hear you've found a charming date, Master Wayne."

I get closer to Deadshot as the beacon pulses faster. I make an effort to move quicker and I'll have to sneak up behind him, most likely. Bruce gave me an EMP Device to add to my list of gadgets earlier today, and I can use that to disable Deadshot's gun. Only when I need to do it. And only when I'm close enough, too. I hear a voice not over the comms. But nearby. Deadshot's. It's a middle-aged voice with some excitement within his tone. "My lucky day."

I'm at the building now. I shoot the Grapnel Gun at a reachable point on the roof and let the Batsymbol I fired from the gun attach itself to the edge of the roof. I front flip onto the roof and I hear Deadshot say another thing. "For the Richest and Most Powerful Person in Gotham, I'll be happy to take my fifty billion now."

Just as he's about to pull the trigger, I disable his gun and he gets angry. He gets up on his feet, tossing his sniper to the ground in frustration and turns around to see me. He shouts in fear. "Who are you?"

"Batgirl."

I swing a punch his way and probably ended up shattering his cheekbone. I catch him in time to save him from falling to his death, and drop him on the roof. Either I hit him harder than I thought I would, or he's more focused on being a Sharpshooter than a body builder. I confirm that Deadshot is down and Bruce congratulates me, so does Alfred. Moments later, I turn him into the authorities and think of heading back to the Cave, but Alfred reassures me. "Rest Ms. Gordon. You've done a lot for us and for Gotham. The least you deserve is a goodnight's sleep."

He is right, though. Bruce agrees with Alfred and tells me. "We'll still be here

tomorrow."

Lately, I've seen a different side of Bruce. One that's less strict, more refined. Which is good. I contact them over the comms. "All right, I'll do it. But I'm heading back to the Cave to switch out of this suit."

"No worries." Comments Alfred. When I do, I don't really sleep but I sit in a chair in the living room where my mother and father used to teach me to read. It's a chair we just couldn't get rid of. After hours into a book, I hear the one thing I had forgotten about. Joker's laugh. He's here. The laughter silent but present. It sends chills down my spine. I set my book down and rotate my lamp to a point where I can find him in the darkness. Nowhere. He's probably hiding behind a wall. I stand up and reach for my Batarang in my belt-Oh no. No. I put my fists up and search this level of this house. I turn on the lights and he pops up in front of me. I clasp my mouth with my hands, muffling the scream. The Joker keeps laughing as he holds a gun, pointing at my waist, shooting me through it with a single bullet. My dad's not home yet, probably still at the station. Joker planned this perfectly. Come home to a dying daughter who's in more pain than she should be. And a daughter that's bleeding out, but the flow is steady for now as I lie flat on the ground, helpless to stop him now. Needless to say, blood is running out of my waist where I was shot. The Joker stops laughing and begins speaking. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts when you take a life?"

He's lying, I know he is. He has to be. There's no way he'd do what he does with a heart. "To see someone's world shatter before your eyes, knowing they never stood a chance in this world."

He snickers quietly. "So, if you want to take mine,"

He then does something so cruel I wish I could get up and punish him for this. He sets the gun within inches reach of one of my hands. And because I'm immobilized, and because I can't move, he taunts me with the gun. And places a knife aside my other hand. And a clown flower in my waist where I was shot. The flower doesn't seem to be as cruel as the knife and the gun, and he ends up sitting in my reading chair, crossing his legs and resting his crossed hands on his knee. He begins laughing at my struggle, at my pain. He calms down for a moment and wipes away a tear that isn't there. He reaches for a handkerchief in his trench coat and wipes away his fake tears, reminding me. "But, of course, all good things come to an end. Am I right?"

He stuffs the handkerchief back into his trench coat. He complains. "C'mon! Choose one already! I'm not getting any younger and you're not dying any faster!"

He wants me to choose between the gun or the knife, which are both out of my reach. Then it occurs to me. The flower is to help drag one to my side so I can use it against him. I can't use the knife since I can't throw like this, and I can't use the gun because I can't kill. I wish I could, but I won't. He gets frustrated and picks up the gun, hovering it over one of my hands and throws it away. He gets on top of me as he intends to hurt me, to drive me insane. To do what I've had to do all this time. To kill him. But I can't. I won't. Joker comments on my condition. "If only you knew how much potential I saw in you."

He goes into the kitchen and makes a glass of hot steaming water to dump on my face. It's hard to scream when you have a hole in your waist, when you think of one of the things you need to talk. Joker gets out another gun and points it at his throat, hoisted upwards. Gun ready and finger in position. "Y'know, this isn't as much fun."

He gets on top of me again, laughing. He puts my hands on the gun and positions them to pull the trigger, but I won't. Joker counts to five and tells me that I need to shoot him in that time. Tears stream down my eyes again. Tears of pain. Of hate. Of helplessness. When I don't shoot him, Joker remarks after sighing boringly. "I always thought we had something special. After what we've been through. You watch me kill hundreds of lives, and you let me get away with it?"

He hits me in one of my cheeks and shouts. "What is WRONG with you!?"

He hits me again and grabs my cheeks with his hands, a little too tightly. He wipes away a tear with a knife and slowly slides across my left cheek. "I always thought that, since you rode along my train on insanity, you'd see something in me."

I try to spit back at him, as angrily and fiercely as I dare. "You're a soulless son of a bitch. And I will never play your game."

He punches me again and grabs my cheeks. I keep striking back at him. "I will never, ever, play your twisted game Joker."

He grits his teeth, he's getting angry, and he keeps beating my cheeks until I think he's broken them. I'll still talk him down since it's all I can do. "I will go to the grave, honoring the vow I made."

He's about to cut one of my cheeks when I strike back at him again. "You don't care about a person's life. You don't care what happens to anyone. And you don't give a damn about what goes on in people's lives. You're here solely to destroy Gotham!"

He cuts open a part of my cheek. It wasn't that big of a cut, but it still hurts. Joker's body is tensing up. "Nothing will make me give in to your insanity!"

He cuts both sides of my checks with a bigger cut, and beats my cheeks again, this time taking off his gloves, beating me with his bare hands. In between punches, I scream at him. Scream that I'm not someone that can be corrupted so easily. Scream that I'm not a pawn. I'm not playing his game. I'm better than he is. When the Joker is done, his hands are a little bloody. "I hope you're happy now." Complains the Joker.

He leans back down to me and is about to cut another hole in one of my cheeks when I spit back at him. "Go to Hell."

"Too late." strikes the Joker. And as he hoists his knife upwards, pointing at my chest where my heart is, he's about to stab me to death when my father comes in and quickly grabs his gun. Joker finds his faster and shoots my dad twice in front of me, but shoots the Joker's shooting arm once. I spit back my blood in his face and, as he's blinded, my dad kicks him to the ground, knocking him down. The Joker gets up and my dad grabs the Joker's arm before he can make a swipe of his knife at my dad's calves, and punches the clown as hard as he can in the face twice, knocking him out. For now. I'm amazed at my dad's ability to fight back against the Joker. Those bullet wounds are a different story. My dad calls the ambulance and, before I go out, I thumb-print my watch on my left arm. Used to contact Bruce or Batman in time of need, invented by Bruce Wayne. I wake up on a bed in the Batcave with Bruce waiting for me to wake up. When I do, I await a lecture. But there isn't one. Instead, I get something more. "Thank God you're all right."

I smile and Bruce's face turns grim, remarking. "Now, for the bad news."

My smile vanishes and I have to ask what the news is. Bruce explains, carefully. "Where the Joker shot you, it affected you to an extent where you'll never be able to walk again."

He unveils a wheelchair he had hidden underneath the table, and told me the good news. "The Good News being that you can be here when you're needed and investigate on information in the room I made for you. That way, we can get things done faster."

I'm both relieved and then infuriated. Relieved I can help for a bigger cause, infuriated that I can never be Batgirl ever again. No brace or technology will help me now. I close my eyes and shake my head in disagreement, tears streaming down my eyes. Bruce holds my hand and tells me. "You'll get through this."

I open my eyes and scream at him. "I WON'T!"

I keep shaking my head and I shout again. "You don't know what he did to me. You don't know what I could've done to stop him."

Bruce finishes. "I know."

I look at him, half caring and half confused. "What'd you mean?"

"Because he's what I could've been if I had the chance."

I take time to think about it, and he may be right. Haven't seen him to be wrong yet, though. "The Joker is more than just a man, he's a madman hellbent on chaos. When I saw my parents killed before my eyes, I had thought it was the end of the world. That I had nowhere and no one to call my Family."

He lets go of my hand, finishing. "But your father came along and gave me his coat for me to wear. In that moment, the tears had slowed, but they didn't stop. We didn't speak much after I told him what happened, and we didn't need to. When you encounter a loss like that, there's nothing to say. The only words that mattered the most was how your father gave me warmth in a cold world."

His face turns dark, but compassionate. "If it weren't for your father, I'd have become someone like the Joker. Slowly losing my mind, with no way to cure the pain. Never knowing what it meant to be loved. And develop a hatred against the world."

I keep looking at him, perplexed. Listening intently. I ask a question. "How'd you deal with it?"

"I went away from the world to find out how. I could counter crime where it struck. For seven years, I searched and I trained to be the man I am today."

Seven years? I reply to Bruce. "I'm so sorry."

Even if with this said, there'll still be the matter of me never walking again. But I try and imagine what his childhood must've been like after his parents died. How school was. College. Everything. He could've easily lost his humanity, but he didn't. I try and get in the wheelchair and Bruce helps me in. When I get in, I feel it's more comfortable than anticipated. I slide the wheels and I move around. I head to the room Bruce made for me with the computers and I begin to feel a little better. I did say that, before Batgirl, I wanted to be a detective. I enjoyed being Batgirl more than I'm enjoying this. I look away from the computers and start crying again. I ignore Bruce and I slide out of the room. Alfred comes down the elevator to the Batcave when I need him most. Alfred pauses in the elevator at me being in a wheelchair, and he walks closer to me, asking what happened. I

explained what happened and Alfred tells me. "You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Of course I can. It was my fault I met him in the Alley in the first place! And it was my fault I made myself an enemy."

Tears of pain come falling down as I keep speaking. "Do you know what I want to do? I want to walk again, I want to go outside and be a hero again. Why is this happening to me?"

I frown, looking at the ground and the tears are meaningless now. Being replaced by anger. "Because this never would've happened if you couldn't be capable enough to handle it."

I look up at him, not knowing what to say. Instead, I question him. "What?"

Alfred tips my head up with his other hand, adjusted under my chin. "You're strong, you're smart, and you don't need legs to prove that."

I reply back wearily. "I wasn't trying to prove anything."

"And you don't need to. Here, you're part of a bigger plan than you know. Here, you can be Batman's assistant. You gather the Intel, Batman uses it to his advantage. Don't forget that the strongest people stand stronger when they realize how powerful they are, even if they can't use their legs."

My anger seems to fade a little as Alfred reminds me. "Never Forget."

Alfred sheds a tear, and I wipe it away. I do feel stronger now. I hug Alfred from where I sit and thank him. I turn around and thank Bruce for everything. For being a great mentor. He doesn't say you're welcome, and I admire that. He doesn't just want to say it, but neither does want to accept he's right about something. Tomorrow night, I'd be in the Cave in my room with the computers. The Oracle Room, which is what I call it. Batman contacts me via ear comm and asks me to look up information on a criminal for a crime scene. I type in the criminal's name and tell him everything that comes up. And to my surprise, and to my amazement, he thanks me. I say you're welcome, and he goes to investigate. First night on the new job and Batman says thanks. To me. I look back at how I started out. With a cloth Batsuit for fandom and from being inspired, to the Armored Kevlar, to the Thermal Batsuit, to a wheelchair.

I have to admit, I never saw this coming. And now I'm making great use of it. Right now is all I want. And I think to myself, Dick would be proud. My mother would be proud. My Detective Father would be proud. If it weren't for last night, I wouldn't be here right now. And I wouldn't be thinking that this whole thing was a good idea. I would've been thinking of how to get revenge on the Joker. Speaking of which, since the Joker was still there when the cops and the ambulance, Batman had to have put him in Arkham. He came back to his senses minutes after being knocked out since my dad couldn't make it longer. He pointed a gun to Joker's head until the authorities arrived. He participated. And for someone like him, that's not a good thing for someone who never participated. I ask Batman. "Did you put the Joker in Arkham Asylum?"

"No."

"Where?"

"Beneath the Batcave."

I smile at how he knew the Asylum would've never worked. Now he'll wrack his mind trying to break out of here. I feel safer. Then I ask Batman something. "What about his weapons?"

"Confiscated and out of reach."

I giggle a little, replying to Batman. "Thanks, Batman."

He doesn't say it back again. And it doesn't bother me like it used to. Not having him say thank you or you're welcome or not hearing him say what needed to be said. But now, it doesn't bother me. I look back on all my struggles I've had to endure through, either on my own with someone else. I begin laughing to myself at how it's made me the woman I am today. Right now, I'm stronger than ever before. Right now, I'm still standing.


End file.
